Planning to build a website, but running out of budget? Don’t worry, this post is going to share the cheapest way to make a website. And the good thing is that you don’t need to understand any code or hire a developer to create a website this way. So, without any further delay, let’s begin this quick and budget-friendly website building process.
Step 1: Get a Domain Name
A domain name is an important part of the presence and marketing associated with your website. It is an address where users access your site.
However, finding a catchy and relevant name can be a daunting task. Most of the time it happens the domain name you want to buy is already taken. Tools like Domainr, Name Mesh, BustAName may help you choose an alternative domain and register a different extension.
A few things to consider before buying a domain name.
-If you want to create a brand targetting a wider global audience, try to aim for a “.com” domain.
-If it is a business site, use your company’s name.
-Avoid using numbers of hyphens in your domain name.
GoDaddy, NameCheap, BuyDomains are a few popular domain name registrars that you may consider.
For a brand new domain name, the cost will be anywhere between $8 to $12 depending upon the registrar you select. The three most popular top-level domains are “.com,” “.net”, “.org”.
Step 2: Get Hosting
Again, it is difficult to choose the right hosting type when you have a myriad of options. Shared server, VPS server, and Dedicated server are a few popular options. The cheapest way to make a website is that you go for a shared hosting plan.
It can be an ideal choice for the websites that are the initial phase. For an entry-level shared hosting plan, you can expect to pay between $1.45/mo. to $3.95/mo.
Since there are a lot of providers available offering shared hosting, you should choose hosting services carefully. Find out some providers that are reputable in the industry. Compare their features and pricing thoroughly.
Choose the one that you find affordable and fulfilling your needs perfectly. With some hosting providers, you can get a free domain name for the first year.
Step 3: Choose a Content Management System
If you want to create a budget-friendly website you should go for a reliable content management system like WordPress. The reasons are, it is a user-friendly, open source and free to use. Currently, WordPress is powering more than 33% of the web. This figure is rising every day.
Some of the popular websites built with this WordPress are BBC America, MTV News, Sony Music, Bloomberg Professional, and The New Yorker.
The website building process is quite easy with WordPress, you will hardly need to hire a professional. Even without having a designing skill, you can create a professional looking website.
Other well-known CMSs that you can give a try are Joomla, Drupal, Textpattern, etc. Since WordPress is more convenient comparatively, it is advisable you go with it.
Step 4: Installing WordPress
Now begins the creative part. There are many ways you can install WordPress. The one easiest way is, log in to cPanel provided by your hosting provider and use their one-click installation feature. It will take only a few clicks to install WordPress this way. The procedure for automatic install is.
1. Go to the control panel of your hosting provider.
2. Find the WordPress script.
3. Click on “Install” button and indicate where you want to install that script.
Step 5: Give Your Website A Good Appearance
In WordPress, the appearance of your website is controlled by your theme. A theme is a bunch of CSS, PHP and HTML files. To keep the cost of your website building at bay, you can go for a free theme.
WordPress has an extensive library of premium and free themes. Virtually, all the WP themes are customizable. You can tweak any theme and make it 100% perfect according to your business niche.
To install a theme, in your WordPress dashboard, navigate to Apperance->Themes->Add New.
Here you will see an option for “Upload” located at the top of the screen. Click the “Browse” button, navigate to your computer files and choose the downloaded file and click on the Upload tab.
Once your theme is uploaded, hit Activate button. You will find this theme listed as your currently active theme now.
You should look for the following features in your potential WordPress theme
- Responsive layout or mobile ready theme
- It should be cross-browser compatible
- Easy to customize
- Compatible with the most popular plugins
- SEO-friendly interface
- Clean codes
Step 6: Set Up Plugins
In order to make your WordPress website more functional and feature-rich, you will have to set up different plugins. The good news is, there are many plugins that you can add to your site for absolutely free.
Until your website really needs premium plugins you can relish services offered by free plugins.
Some free WordPress plugins that you would like to add to your website are:
WPForms Lite (for building forms)
Google XML Sitemaps (for generating Google sitemap)
Yoast SEO (for Search Engine Optimization)
SucuriSecurity (for security)
Free plugins really help you create a budget-friendly website.
Step: 7 Add Content to Your Website
You can start with creating a static page such as “Contact us”, “About us”, etc. To add pages in your site, navigate to WordPress dashboard. Click on the Pages menu and then on Add new option.
Next, add the title of the page such as About us. Add some content to this page and hit the Publish button.
Similarly, you can create a post on your website.
WordPress is a great platform to create a website on a limited budget. The platform itself is free, you just have to pay for a domain name and hosting services.
